How Charm Beads Can Make You
Money, Who is MrBead +
July's Gem: Ruby & Onyx

This month is how to profit from
charm beads, who is MrBead, & July's
birthstone ruby. Scroll down, or click one of the links below.
To go to our Bead Store click MrBead.com or
MrBead.co.ukIf you
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Charm beads have always been popular. However, the
increasing desire for troll beads have brought charms to the top of
fashion. There's been an explosion of different brands and styles
covering everything imaginable. With prices ranging from cheap colored
plastic beads, to gold and silver charms costing hundreds-of-dollars
each.

It's this variation with charm bead bracelets that
make them so appealing. Customers' love to use their imagination
designing their own bracelet. People like a unique style that expresses
the way they dress, their birth date or desires. They choose individual
charms carefully to bring them luck, or as a set theme, like the time of
year.

How to Sell Charm Beads

Cash in on this new desire brought about by
costly marketing from Pandora, Tedora in Italy, SimSars, and Truth.

You can make money from charm beads in a number of
ways. They're especially fashionable with children right now. So if you
sell at children's parties, schools, or for parents' to buy as presents,
you're already onto a winner.

Another way to sell charm beads is to make up
bracelets to order right away, while the customer waits. You can do this
at jewelry parties, craft fairs, schools, jewelry-making workshops,
market stalls, boot or garage sales, and just about anywhere else people
buy beads.

DisplayAll you need is a little
stand with a table to display and make up from, plus lots of charm beads
and the empty bangles. However, it's important to make your display
stand out to attract buyers. Hang finished bracelets imaginatively and
attractively, with lots of bright lights if you're selling inside.

Separate the different charm beads using a
fishing-tackle or tool box, or glass jars. To create interest, make neat
little printed cards, explaining the mythology of some of the charms -
you can find this out in Google.

PricingLet the customer choose
what beads they want in their bracelet, then make them up on blank
bangles while they wait. Charge per charm + the blank bangle - that way
you make more! For instance:

US$6 for the bangle + $2 per charm - so a bracelet of
six charms would be $18.

Troll BeadsThese type of charm
beads are very popular. Each bead is enchanting with its own magic and
history. The design, inspired from mythology, astrology, fairy tales,
fauna, flora, cultural diversity; and last but not least, familiar
everyday living.

With imagination and creativity you can
personalize jewelry for a particular person or market, giving others the
opportunity to be part of the story.

Tell your customers' to choose the beads that remind
them of a special person or memory, or a particular time of year.

ExtrasAdd spacers or other
little extras for free - to make the customer feel valued and the
bracelet look more professional. If you can build up a crowd waiting,
then this will attract more business.

Zodiac BeadsChinese
or Western zodiac beads are ideal to combine with other charm beads.
Choose the animal for the year of birth the design is intended for.
For our Chinese zodiac beads click
MrBead.com or
MrBead.co.uk.

I
was born in 1957 in Luton, 30-miles north of London, UK.At 18 I left art school to work for a newspaper, before
establishing a photographic studio.I grew a mustache to look older!

Bored and in debt from fast cars
and holidays, I shut shop and traveled overland to China.I’ve been there ever since, commuting between Hong Kong and
Guangzhou.I came
online in 1997 when Britain lost Hong Kong, and built my first shop
there on a 10-inch laptop - the only machine to fit my tiny Mong Kok
room.

Later I moved to the mainland, 20-floors above huge bead wholesalers.Knowing nothing about beads, I brought whatever looked attractive
and searched online before listing them on eBay.

I spend about 6-days in China, followed by
similar in Hong Kong – commuting 3-hours door-to-door by taxi and train
to Hong Kong, where most items are mailed. The train to Canton travels
at 200 km-an-hour!My wife Mi Mi buys in China and my mother
helps with British orders in Luton, UK.

I usually work every day for over 80-hours a
week, taking a few days off every month for short holidays in Asia. Too
long really, but I enjoy it! MiMi
and I also spend about 90-days a year in the UK where we exhibition at
local bead fairs and enjoy cruising the Norfolk Broads on our boat
there. We also own a holiday cottage in Wroxham, Norfolk, UK, and a flat
in Norwich.

We operate three premium stores powered by Miva software:
MrBead.com, OnlineOriental.com and AwesomeRings.com; two Market Works
stores, one in US dollars and one in GB pounds; and four eBay stores -
under 'jensen4', 'betterbead', 'gothic-uk', 'awesomerings', and 'mrbead-uk'.

The hardest part of the whole job is to understand
customer's problems, especially payments that don't make clear what they
are for. This takes a lot of time. It is also costly looking after
apartments in three different countries, and surprisingly difficult and
expensive obtaining visas for us to continue travelling in Mainland
China.

Like a perfect red rose, the Ruby's rich color speaks of
love and passion. July's birthstone is among the most highly prized of gems
throughout history. The Ruby was considered to have magical powers, and was worn
by royalty as a talisman against evil. It was thought to grow darker when
danger was imminent, and to return to its original color once safe.

The word Ruby comes from the Latin "ruber," meaning red.
Ruby is the hardest mineral after diamond, a variety of the mineral Corundum,
and is found as crystals within metamorphic rock. It comes in a variety of
colors, and is called a sapphire in any color except red. Rubies range in hue
from an orangey red to a purplish red, but the most prized gems are a true red.
Large rubies are very rare and valuable. The most beautiful crystals are
thought to be from Burma, but they are also found in many other countries.

Rubies were thought to represent heat and power. Ancient
tribes used the gem as bullets for blowguns, and it was said that a ruby would
boil water instantly. Ground to powder, this crystal was used as a cure for
indigestion - and it has been said that the ruby's red glow comes from an
internal flame that cannot be extinguished, making a gift of this stone symbolic
of everlasting love. And if worn on the left hand, ancient lore has it that the
ruby will bring good fortune to its wearer.

The
Romans, Italians and Hebrew all have a different gemstone for July - Onyx.

Onyx is a term used for several stones. It has been dyed
since ancient time, with the popular pure black variety, being dyed
microcrystalline quartz. Its natural color is usually brown, white or grey. And
onyx used in architecture isn't a form of quartz at all, but a type of limestone
marble. Onyx is very similar to agate. With straight bands of brown, white or
black, where agate has curved bands of many colors.

Although
regarded as protective, onyx has a reputation as a stone of discord. Onyx was
worn to cool the ardors of love, probably because it helps to balance the mind
and emotions. Not only avoided by lovers, but also at night, as it provoked
nightmares. However, it does improve concentration and devotion, hence many onyx
rosaries. Onyx is a strength-giving stone, aiding confidence and useful for
athletes or people under stress. Its energy is a mental tonic and can help you
cope with fears and worries, making you feel in harmony with your surroundings.